Cardiff City's Borrowed Midfield !

Cardiff City fielded an entirely on-loan midfield unit to start the 1-0 win against Scunthorpe United with Arsenal loanee Jay Emmanuel-Thomas stepping in on the right flank.

Whilst we do have a full contigent of loan players in the squad, we do normally name the versatile Peter Whittingham somewhere along the midfield. However, with the former Aston Villa man ruled out with a dead leg, Emmanuel-Thomas joined Olofinjana (Hull City), Craig Bellamy (Manchester City) and Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal).

Jason Koumas (Wigan) was also brought on to replace Chopra, but lined up in midfield before Chris Burke, a fully fledged Cardiff City player was also utilised.

Much has been made of Cardiff City's reliance on the loan market, but the on-loan players have provided real quality this season and are deservedly keeping the likes of Steve McPhail and Gavin Rae out of the side on form.